Michele Domico

Biography

Michele Domico, M.D., FCCM, is Associate Medical Director of the Cardiac Intensive Care Unit and Associate Medical Director of the ECMO Program at Children's Hospital of Orange County (CHOC), where she has served since 2007. She also holds appointments as HS Associate Clinical Professor of Pediatrics at the University of California, Irvine Medical Center and works as a pediatric cardiac intensivist at Rady Children's Hospital in San Diego. Domico completed her medical degree at the University of Texas Health Science Center in San Antonio, followed by pediatric residency, pediatric cardiology fellowship, pediatric critical care fellowship, and a senior fellowship in pediatric cardiac intensive care and ECMO at Great Ormond Street Hospital for Children in London. She is currently completing a Master of Sustainability Leadership degree in Environmental Sustainability from Arizona State University.

Domico has established herself in the field of extracorporeal life support, serving as principal investigator on multiple ELSO research grants examining predictors of outcome for pertussis patients on ECMO and the impact of mechanical ventilation duration prior to ECMO initiation. Her 2012 publication on mechanical ventilation time prior to ECLS initiation in pediatric respiratory failure was recognized by the American Thoracic Society as one of the top three practice-changing studies of the year in pediatric critical care. She has been elected to Fellowship in the American College of Critical Care Medicine (FCCM), serves as Co-Chair of the Society of Critical Care Medicine Task Force on Environmental Sustainability, and is a member of the Euro ELSO Steering Committee for Environmental Sustainability. Domico has presented at numerous national and international conferences, including invited presentations at the Social Media and Critical Care (SMACC) conferences in Berlin and Dublin.

Beyond her clinical and research work, Domico has volunteered as a pediatric cardiac intensivist on six international medical missions with the International Children's Heart Foundation, providing cardiac surgery and education to underserved children in countries including Cuba, Paraguay, Ecuador, the Dominican Republic, Ukraine, and others. She served as Medical Director of the Cardiac Intensive Care Unit at CHOC from 2011 to 2018 and has been actively involved in quality improvement initiatives, including reducing hypotonic saline use hospital-wide and developing clinical guidelines for post-operative complications. She is a member of the Women Physician Impact Network Group at CHOC and has been recognized as Physician of Excellence by the Orange County Medical Association annually from 2014 to 2025.

Education

• B.S. in Biology, University of California at San Diego, 1995
• M.D., University of Texas Health Science Center, 1999

Distinctions

• Recognized by the American Thoracic Society for authoring one of the Top Three Practice Changing Studies of the Year in the field of Pediatric Critical Care, 2012
• Fellowship in the American College of Critical Care Medicine (FCCM), 2024
• Acknowledged by the Society Of Critical Care Medicine in their annual report for exceptional service to the field of critical care, 2025
• NCAA All-American Track and Field Athlete, 1995
• Physician of Excellence, 2014-2025
• Orange County Top Doctor Award - Selected as Orange County's 2017 Top Doctor Cover, 2017